1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-providing apparatus that communicates directly with an image-printing apparatus, an image-printing apparatus that communicates with an image-providing apparatus, and further, an image-printing system created by communication between an image-providing apparatus and an image-printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
When printing an image captured with a digital camera, the typical procedure involves scanning the image to be printed into a personal computer (hereinafter “PC”) and printing it with a printer that is connected to the PC using an application running on the PC.
It should be noted that, in this specification, devices that are provided with the capability to record a captured image in digital data format are collectively called digital cameras (“DSC”). Therefore, a digital video camera that has a still-image capture function is of course one example of what in this specification is called a digital camera, as is a mobile phone, PDA or the like equipped with a digital camera.
In the procedure described above, because the image data is sent to the printer through the PC, a PC is necessary for printing. Moreover, in order to print an image stored in the DSC, the PC must be activated for each printing.
To remedy this problem, a photo-direct printing technology that connects the DSC and the printer directly and prints without going through the PC is known (Japanese Patent No. 3530847). In this case, instructions and the like from the user to the printer are executed using the display device and the operation panel (consisting of keys, switches and the like) with which the DSC is ordinarily equipped. Hereinafter, a printing system in which the image-providing apparatus and the image-printing apparatus are connected, as in a system in which the DSC and the printer are connected, is called a photo-direct printing system.
There are several advantages to a photo-direct printing system. Since it is not necessary to activate a PC, printing can of course be performed with ease. Moreover, since a PC is not required, the system can be constructed inexpensively. In addition, since such a system has a major advantage in that it uses the display device with which the DSC is ordinarily equipped as the means for confirming all manner of instructions and in particular of confirming the image that is about to be printed, a special display device to confirm the image is not required for the printer and thus the cost can be further reduced.
In addition, in order to achieve a photo-direct printing system that does not depend on the DSC and printer manufacturer, a unified standard for photo-direct printing system has recently been proposed and adopted for virtually all commercially available DSC and printers, such that setting certain standardized items has made possible a type of printing in which the print quality, paper size, paper type, file type and so forth are specified.
However, for those settings that are not specified by standard, in carrying out these settings and the processes based on them, such as print adjustment and correction, the following problems arise:
In those cases in which the uniform standard restricts a given standard extension by venders, the extension is limited to the restricted range. As a result, until such time as the standard itself is upgraded to a new version or the desired print adjustment and correction functions are themselves standardized, any print adjustment or correction function that cannot be implemented with an extension within the restricted range can only be provided as an incompatible proprietary function.
Even when implementing desired print adjustment and correction functions that are incompatible with the standard by using vendor-specific methods, since uniform standard support is required it is ultimately necessary to deal with two sets of procedures, which does not facilitate efficient development.
Conventionally, in the photo-direct printing system, there is a method of implementing print adjustments and corrections that are not defined by the standards. Specifically, this is not a photo-direct printing procedure conducted between the DSC and the printer but a method of carrying out photo-direct printing after configuring the printer to execute print adjustment and correction on its own. In other words, the photo-direct printing procedure is left as is while the printer print settings are changed, so as to reflect the corrections and adjustments in the results. In this case, since the instructions for print adjustment and correction are provided by the printer, it is necessary to provide a special display device such as a color display on the printer or to connect a PC to the printer and configure the desired print adjustment/correction for the printer using a PC application.
In any case, however, the user is required to use both the printer user interface (UI) and the DSC UI, or the PC application UI and the DSC UI, and to configure two apparatuses, which complicates operation. Moreover, since it is not possible to check all configuration setting contents with just the DSC UI alone, ultimately it is necessary to check both UI repeatedly prior to printing.